Field narrowed for relations director position
By Pat Dinslage
Staff Reporter
One of three top administrative positions at
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln currently
filled by interim staff has moved a step closer
to being permanently filled.
Herb Howe, associate to the UNL chancel
lor, said the list of university relations director
candidates has been narrowed to eight. The
search committee has forwarded the list to NU
President-elect and UNL Chancellor Martin
Massengale.
The position currently is filled by interim
director Neale Copplc, the former journalism
college dean who retired earlier this year.
Howe said it is possible a university rela
tions director could be hired by the end of
January. However, interviews of the final can
didates probably will not start until after Jan. 1,
he said.
“We’re only nine working days away from
the end of the semester,” Howe said, which
doesn’t give the search committee much time
to arrange interview times with the finalists.
The selection of which candidates to inter
view is up to Massengale, Howe said. Once
Massengalc has selected the finalists, the can
didates will be contacted to arrange interview
times.
Qualifications for the director’s position
include a master’s degree, experience in higher
education and in work with constituency groups
and a high energy level, he said.
“A good share of the candidates are from
Nebraska,” Howe said. He declined to com
ment on whether any of the candidates on the
list work within the university.
The search for a new vice chancellor of
research and dean of graduate studies position
is not going as quickly, Howe said.
“The initial group has been narrowed,” Howe
said, “but is still over 20 people.”
After the first of the year, the search com
mittee will meet to review the applicants’ fold
ers and develop a short list to be sent to the
UNL chancellor, he said. The committee hopes
to narrow the list to fewer than 10 candidates.
The vice chancellor’s position currently is
filled on an interim basis by Bill Splinter,
associate vice chancellor for research.
The third top UNL administrative position
temporarily being filled is vice chancellor for
academic affairs. Stan Liberty was appointed
by Massengale on an interim basis to replace
Robert Furgason, who left for Corpus Christi
Slate University on Dec. 1.
Liberty is dean of engineering and technol
ogy. Associate Dean Morris Schneider is serv
ing as acting dean.
UNL tree study leaves
no ground uncovered
By Michelle Dyer
Staff Reporter
The UNL Department of Land
scape Services finally got down to the
root of the tree situation on campus
when it finished a 3 1/2 year study, an
official said.
Charles Zillinger, assistant man
ager of Landscape Services, said the
study, completed Nov. 1, inventoried
the types of trees on campus, their
value and their exact location.
“UNL’s two campuses boast more
than 9,500 trees, of which 50 percent
arc under 10 years old,” Zillinger
said. There are 250 species of trees on
the two campuses.
The study is the first done at the
University of Ncbraska-Lincoln. Many
cities and institutions have compiled
similar reports, he said. Landscape
Services had Zillinger do all the evalu
ating to keep consistency level high.
He evaluated every tree on City
and East campuses.
“There arc three aspects of the tree
to be looked at when evaluating it: the
condition, the species and the loca
tion,” he said. “These three factors
are then manipulated using a formula
supplied by the International Society
of Architectures to determine the value
of the tree.”
The value of the trees on both
campuses totaled more than $5.5
million.
Bud Dasenbrock, director of Land
scape Services, said, “The dollar fig
ure for the trees is probably not exces
sive compared to other college cam
puses, especially when you take into
consideration the outstanding variety
of unique trees we have.”
The variety of vegetation is a re
sult of a 10-year effort, he said.
“Our hard work has paid off and
designated areas last vear were de
clared botanical gardens which means
that they can be used for leaching
purposes,” Dasenbrock said.
Dasenbrock said the department’s
goal is to put 900 more arboretum
signs on the grounds to show people
what type of plant they are viewing.
Zillinger said a survey of the shrubs
on campus will be complete in 1 1/2
years. A survey of flowers and peren
nials should be finished in about two
years, he said.
1-^
§ Holiday open house to be held at church
I United Ministries in Higher
Education, 640 N. 16th St., will
host an all-campus holiday open
house Friday from 3 p.m. to 5:30
Professor to discuss
p.m.
The event is open to all Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty,
staff members and students.
historical detection I
Mary Smith, an English profes
sor ai Nebraska Wesleyan Univer
sity, will speak on “Blood on the
Parlor Walls: The Charm of His
torical Detection” at 10 a.m. Fri
day in McDonald Theatre, 51st
Street and Huntington Avenue.
The presentation is part of the
Nebraska Wesleyan University
Forum and is free and open to the
public.
Virus
Continued from Page 1
placing a virus into a computer is to
know where the diskettes have been.
“First, you have to know where
that disk has been that you’re stick mg
in your computer,” he said. The safe
route is to use only new software arid
avoid shared software or bootlegged
copies of programs, Kutish said.
‘‘You ought to check out copies of
software. Use virus detection soft
ware and have backups of your files
ready to reconstitute your system if
the vims is too insidious,” he said.
Research
Continued from Page 1
Seventy universities currently are
classified as Research I, the higher
rating. To cam a Research I ranking,
a school must grant at least 50 doc
toral degrees and receive at least S33.5
million in federal grants per year.
Although UNL still is not classi
fied as a Research 1 university, Splin
ter said, it isn’t far behind.
“We’re pretty close,” he said. “It’s
not that we’re clear out of it.”
UNL gives far more than the 50
required degrees each year. The most
recent U.S. Department of Education
figures, from 1987-88, show that UNL
granted nearly five times that many.
But lagging federal grants are
keeping UNL out of the Research 1
inner circle.
Low grants also arc keeping Iowa
State from being a Research I univer
sity, even though its total research
spending is higher than Missouri’s.
Missouri is a Research I school.
In 1989, the federal share of UNL
research spending was S25.8 million.
In 1990, federal research money in
creased to S29.7 million.
Those figures earned UNL a Re
search II rating, which is given to
schools with between $12.5 million
and $33.5 million in federal grants
and that confer at least 50 doctoral
degrees per year.
Splinter said UNL gets closer to
the S33.5 million Research I target
each year.
“We’re within shooting distance
of that,” he said.
As grants pick up, the university
adds more faculty members and stu
dents, Splinter said. Graduate student
enrollment in 1989-90 was the high
est it has ever been, he said, but that
shouldn’t be the main criterion for
success.
“Many excellent universities have
fewer students than Nebraska,” he
said, adding that excellence does not
necessarily come from size. Some of
the most prestigious schools in the
nation are small private universities,
he said.
Others, such as Harvard Univer
sity and the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, arc larger but highly
selective.
Splinter said the peer group, which
is made up of high-quality public
institutions, is a good measuring stick
for UNL.
ResolutioiThonors Massengale
By Jennifer O’Cilka
Senior Reporter
Members of the Academic Sen
ate Tuesday passed a resolution
honoring Martin Massengale and
making him an honorary member
of the University of Nebraska
Lincoln Academic Assembly.
Massengale is the University of
Nebraska president-elect and UNL
chancellor. He will become NU
president Jan. 1.
George Tuck, president-elect of
the Academic Senate, said he thinks
it is appropriate to thank Massen
gale for his service to the senate
because Massengale has worked
closely with the current senate,
former senates and the Executive
Committee.
“It’s just a thank you for his
work on behalf of the university ..
.” Tuck said.
The resolution states that “the
Academic Senate does congratu
late Dr. Martin Massengale on this
honor and offers him its support
and encouragement” in undertak
ing the office of president.
Because Massengale now is
president-elect of the entire NU
system, the resolution gives him an
honorary membership to the Aca
demic Assembly at UNL, Tuck
said.
The Academic Assembly in
cludes all faculty members and the
Academic Senate consists of elected
representatives.
In other discussion, senate Presi
dent James McShane recommended
that a committee to select a new
UNL chancellor consist of faculty
members totaling “half the body
plus one.”
University bylaws state that
chancellors should consult with the
Academic Senate and the Associa
tion of Students of the University
of Nebraska when selecting mem
bers for the committee to select a
new chancellor.
McShane said his recommen
dation had nothing to do with the
controversy surrounding the search
committee for NU president be
cause that committee was chosen
by the NU Board of Regents, which
has its own set of rules.
Most people who serve on the
committee to select a new chancel
lor should come from inside the
university in order for the search to
be successful, McShane said.
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